BCCI gives Gavaskar lifetime achievement award

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has awarded former Indian captain, Sunil Gavaskar, the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2012. Gavaskar will receive a sum of Rs.25 lakh (approximately, US$ 46,600), a citation and a trophy at the BCCI awards ceremony. Ajit Wadekar was awarded the same last year and had received an amount of Rs.15 lakh.

Gavaskar represented India in 125 Tests from 1970-71 to 1986-87, scoring a record 774 runs in his debut series in the West Indies. He was the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in Tests, and the first to play 100 consecutive Tests. He was the first batsman to score hundreds in each innings of a Test thrice and was the first batsman to surpass Sir Don Bradman's tally of 29 Test centuries.

He led India in 47 Tests and his greatest triumph as captain was India's victory in the World Championship of Cricket, a limited-overs tournament featuring all the then Test-playing nations, in 1984-85. Post retirement, Gavaskar became a cricket expert. He was also the chairman of the BCCI's Technical Committee, and the chairman of the ICC's Cricket Committee.

The committee has also decided to honour seven individuals posthumously with Special Award for their outstanding contribution to Indian cricket. The yesteryear cricketers- Vijay Merchant, Vinoo Mankad, Dattu Phadkar, Vijay Manjrekar, Ghulam Ahmed, M L Jaisimha and Dilip Sardesai- will receive a trophy and cheque of Rs 15 lakh at the award ceremony.